Australia's children

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey

Description

The Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey commenced as part of the Australian Health Survey in 2012, and includes a nationally representative sample of around 13,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in non-remote and remote areas, including discrete communities. The survey includes the ABS National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey with a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey and a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Measures Survey.

ABS Census of Population Housing

Description

The Census collects information on a range of welfare-related topics, including housing and income. The 2016 Census counted almost 10 million dwellings, and 23.4 million people, across Australia.  Different strategies of data collection were used to include people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and people from remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

ABS Childhood Education and Care Survey (CEaCS)

Description

The CEaCS includes data on learning activities for children aged less than 13, in addition to child care and early childhood education. The purpose of this survey is to provide data to key government agencies to plan and formulate policy for preschool and child care.

The CEaCS was conducted as a supplement to the ABS monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS). The survey restricted data collection to Australian resident children (and their families) living in private dwellings. In each selected household, detailed information about child care arrangements and early childhood education was collected for a maximum of two children aged 0–12. Information was obtained via interview from an adult who permanently resided in the selected household and was the child’s parent, step-parent or guardian.

ABS General Social Survey (GSS)

Description

The GSS, conducted on Australians aged 15 and over, aims to provide an understanding of the multi-dimensional nature of relative advantage and disadvantage across the population. Only usual residents of private dwellings were included in the GSS, and while urban and rural areas in all states and territories were included, very remote parts of Australia and discrete Indigenous communities were excluded from the survey. Approximately 3,500 and 5,300 households around Australia were included in the 2019 and 2020 survey, respectively.

ABS National Health Survey

Description

The National Health Survey collected a range of information about the health of Australians in all states and territories across urban, rural and remote areas (excluding very remote areas). The 2017–18 survey included around 21,000 people in over 16,000 private dwellings. An adult was asked to respond on behalf of selected children aged under 15.

ABS National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey

Description

The National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS) collected detailed physical activity information using self-reported and pedometer collection methods, and detailed nutrition information on dietary intake and foods consumed from over 12,000 participants across Australia. The NNPAS is incorporated into the Australian Health Survey. The sample included Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people where they were randomly selected in the general population, but discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and Very Remote areas of Australia were excluded. Within each selected private dwelling, one adult and one child (aged 2 and over), where possible, was selected for inclusion in the survey. The NNPAS collected detailed information on children through interviews with an adult nominated by the household.

ABS Personal Safety Survey (PSS)

Description

The PSS collects information from women and men aged 18 and over about the nature and extent of violence experienced since the age of 15. Over 5,000 men and 15,000 women were included in the 2016 survey. The scope of the 2016 survey was persons aged 18 and over in private dwellings across Australia (excluding very remote areas). Interviews were conducted with one randomly selected member of a household aged 18 or over.

ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC)

Description

The SDAC is survey designed to measure the prevalence of disability in Australia and the need for support of older people and those with disability. The 2018 SDAC collected information in order to: measure the prevalence of disability in Australia; measure the need for support of older people and those with disability; estimate the number of and provide information about people who provide care to older people and people with disabilities; and provide a demographic and socio-economic profile of people with disabilities, older people, and carers compared with the general population.

The survey was conducted in all states and territories and across urban, rural and remote areas of Australia. The 2018 survey included around 65,800 people from over 21,900 private dwellings and 1,000 establishments. Accommodation within establishments included hospitals, aged care hostels, nursing homes, care components of retirement villages and other homes. The SDAC estimated the number of those who provided care to people with disability and older people based on available information. Carers were people who provided any informal ongoing assistance to people with disability or older people for at least 6 months.

ABS Survey of Income and Housing (SIH)

Description

The SIH is a household survey that collects information on sources of income, amounts received, household net worth, housing, household characteristics and personal characteristics. The 2017–18 survey collected information from a sample of over 14,000 households through personal interview of usual residents of private dwellings in urban and rural areas of Australia.

AusPlay Survey

Description

The AusPlay Survey is a national population tracking survey funded and led by the Australian Sports Commission. Data are collected about participation behaviours and activity. Since October 2015, data have been collected continuously with an annual target sample of 20,000 adults and children aged 15 and over and approximately 3,600 children aged 0–14.

Australian Child Wellbeing Project (ACWP)

Description

The ACWP was a child centred study that collected information on the perspectives and wellbeing among children aged 8–14 years. The survey was particularly focused on capturing the perspectives of six groups of people, including:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people
• Culturally and linguistically diverse young people
• Young people with a disability
• Young people in regional and remote Australia
• Economically disadvantaged young people, and
• Young people in out of home care.

The nationally representative survey involved students in Years 4, 6 and 8 completing an online questionnaire. Students were drawn from a sample of 180 primary and secondary schools in every state and territory.

Australian Early Development Census (AEDC)

Description

The AEDC is a national data collection of early childhood development at the time children commence their first year of full-time school. The census involves teachers of children in their first year of full-time school completing a research tool which relates to five key areas of early childhood development. These include:

• Physical health and well being
• Social competency
• Emotional maturity
• Language and cognitive skills (school-based)
• Communication skills and general knowledge.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS)

Description

The NDSHS collects information on alcohol and tobacco consumption, and illicit drug use among the general population in Australia. It also surveys people's attitudes and perceptions relating to tobacco, alcohol and other drug use. The 2016 NDSHS surveyed individuals aged 12 years and older and the 2019 NDSHS surveyed individuals aged 14 years and older.

Australian Secondary Schools’ Alcohol and Drug Survey (ASSAD)

Description

ASSAD is a secondary school-based survey that collects data on the use of tobacco, alcohol and other substances among Australian adolescent students. ASSAD data provides estimates of prevalence of tobacco use, alcohol use and the use of other substances, and supports examination of trends in the use of these substances over time. In 2017, 20 000 students were surveyed nationally. Teenagers who were not at school in 2017 were not included in the school-based sample.

Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey

Description

HILDA is a longitudinal household study that surveys the same cohort of 17,000 Australians yearly on their economic and wellbeing information. The survey comprises of multiple different instruments, including:

• the Household Form
• the Household Questionnaire
• the Person Questionnaire (either a Continuing Person Questionnaire for persons interviewed in the previous waves or a New Person Questionnaire for persons never previously interviewed)
• the Self-Completion Questionnaire.

Longitudinal Study of Australia’s Children

Description

The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) collects information on physical and mental health, education, and social, cognitive and emotional development of two large cohorts of children (totalling >10,000 children at the outset of the study in 2004). The data is sourced from parents, child carers, pre-school and school teachers and the children themselves. Population estimates from the LSAC represent the population of Australian children born in Australia between March 2003 and February 2004 (B cohort), and those born between March 1999 and February 2000 (K cohort). Data are not representative of children who migrated to Australia.

Multipurpose Household Survey (MPHS)

Description

The MPHS is conducted each financial year throughout Australia to supplement the monthly Labour Force Survey. The survey is designed to provide statistics annually for topics such as:

• Barriers and incentives to Labour Force Participation
• Retirement and Retirement Intentions
• Work Related Injuries
• Qualifications and employment outcomes
• Crime victimisation
• Participation in sport and physical activity
• Environmental views and behaviours
• Patient experiences and
• Household use of information technology.

The survey is restricted to persons aged 15 years and over and excludes very remote parts of Australia, persons living in non-private dwellings and persons living in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in very remote parts of Australia.

National Child Oral Health Study, 2012–14

Description

The National Child Oral Health Study 2012–14 is a cross-sectional study of children aged 5–14 that included a clinical examination component and a parental questionnaire. It provides a descriptive ‘snapshot’ of oral health in the child population of Australia. Data are collected from children aged 5–14 years, residing in all Australian states and territories. The National Oral Health Plan 2015–2024 calls for a population-based epidemiological study of the oral health of children to be conducted every 10 years.

Second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (Young Minds Matter)

Description

The Young Mind Matters Survey covered a range of topics relating to the health and wellbeing of young people (aged 4–17 years) in Australia. Over 6,000 Australian families were randomly selected and interviewed. Parent questionnaires were conducted by trained interviewers and if the survey child was aged between 11 and 17, they were asked to complete a questionnaire on a tablet computer.

Youth Digital Participation Survey

Description

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner’s Youth Digital Participation Survey, 2017 asked more than 3,000 young Australians aged 8–17 about their experiences and behaviours related to safety online.